Factors that influence the therapeutic determination of consistency changes as strategies that support the speech therapy approach to swallowing disorders

Abstract

Introduction: OBJECTIVE: To categorize the factors that influence the therapeutic determination of consistency change. METHODS: The proposed research methodology is based on a flexible, non-experimental design that seeks to generate strategies as the procedure and the cases require, structuring the design during methodological execution. The study's procedural framework focuses primarily on the selection of the population sample; this process is based on a comprehensive review of medical and speech therapy records, in which the diagnoses and characteristics evidenced in the clinical registration processes were classified. RESULTS: The second step links consistency transformation as a mechanical intervention strategy. Performed through commercial thickeners, the transformation transformed the ingested liquid into a pudding-like consistency, resulting in adapted motor activities in some patients. This would indicate a biomechanical change based on the oral control of the adapted food. CONCLUSION: The six characteristics summarized previously determined the factors that must be taken into account to carry out a consistency change appropriately for each patient, since each process was thoroughly analyzed and thus the relevant transformation was carried out.